Sr. Deployment Strategist, FDE - Digital Native Business

About this role

CSQ427R137 Sr. Deployment Strategist, FDE - Digital Native Business About the Team The FDE (Forward Deployed Engineering) team is a new, strategic initiative sponsored from the CEO and Founders down. Our mission is to win C-suite-sponsored, high-value AI opportunities by selling and delivering outcomes , not just a platform. You will be part of the founding team, embedded with our most strategic customers from the very first sales call, all the way through to a production-ready solution.

You will be the "product manager" for the customer's problem, responsible for the "why" and "what," while our FDEs (Engineers) will be your partners responsible for the "how." Role Description As a Deployment Strategist (DS), you are the critical bridge between a customer's multi-million-dollar business problem and Databricks' technical solution. You are a product manager for the field, owning the technical and product direction of the engagement from initial discovery through production launch and adoption.

You will build C-suite trust, perform deep discovery to map the customer's political and technical landscape, and scope the value. You will define the Minimum Viable Product for a pilot, write the PRD that guides the engineering team, and manage the project to a successful landing. You will also lead technical discovery, shape solution architecture with FDEs, and ensure that each proposed solution can move from prototype to production.

This role requires a rare combination of executive presence, deep product thinking, technical depth, and a hands-on delivery mindset. The impact you will have C-Suite Scoping & Value Definition: Partner with Sales to perform deep discovery, map the customer's organization, quantify the business value of USD 10M+ problems, and define the pilot, including its MVP, success criteria, and timeline. End-to-End Product Ownership: Author the PRD, prioritize the engineering backlog, manage scope, and act as the primary hands-on QA tester.

Translate business requirements into clear data, integration, security, and operational requirements that engineers can build against. Technical Solution Leadership & Delivery: Drive the FDE build team through an agile delivery process, manage stakeholders from the C-suite to individual engineers, and unblock technical or organizational issues. Lead technical discovery and design reviews. Understand the customer's data flows, integrations, platform constraints, and operational environment; pressure-test architecture choices; and identify technical risks early.